22 Ways to Reinvent Paris

Paris is a city renowned for dramatic urban transformation: 146 years ago, the completion of Haussmann’s renovation changed the face of the French capital, his vast network of boulevards and squares constituting the single most radical overhaul of a city in history. Now, it seems Paris is at it again. Mayor Anne Hidalgo has announced the winners of Réinventer Paris, unveiling a raft of innovative projects designed to improve public spaces across the city.

The competition called for proposals on 23 sites throughout Paris and has attracted a number of prestigious international firms including David Chipperfield Architects and Sou Fujimoto Architects. Winners were announced for 22 different locations — only the site for a townhouse in the 17th arrondissement lacked a proposal — and include proposals for 1,341 new living units, of which 50 percent are designated affordable. Other projects contribute buildings for public use, as well as incorporating improved infrastructure and highly sustainable building technologies.

Below, we preview all 22 schemes. Here’s what to expect from the next great reinvention of Paris:

The winning proposal envisions a mixed-use scheme that transforms this 1950s structure into an open, accessible public building. The design includes space for a hotel, youth hostel, food market, bar and restaurant as well as a two-story, inhabitable artistic installation by Studio Other Spaces.

The architects propose a sensitive restoration of this early-20th-century electricity substation, transforming it into a mixed-use cinema and entertainment venue while preserving the building’s historic façade.

Jacques Ferrier Architectures and Chartier Dalix Architectes’ proposal for an “environmental machine” forms an inhabitable bridge that spans the Boulevard Périphérique, with each mixed-use building including rooftop walkways, parks and allotments.

A futuristic timber-framed structure with glass façades and green walls will be built on the site of a former bus terminal, and it is designed to house flexible workspaces for “a new generation of mobile workers.” A vegetable garden on the roof will provide food for sale on site.

The winning proposal for this group of 1970s tower blocks in the 17th arrondissement envisions three new residential buildings that house 66 apartments — each granted its own outside space in the form of “livable gardens.”

A sustainable mixed-use scheme is planned for a site adjacent to the historic Petite Ceinture railway line, including urban agriculture and parkland that retains industrial heritage akin to New York’s High Line.